An Orange By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

The calendar may say February, but the garden is saying Spring.  A few weeks ago I stepped into my yard and an amazing fragrance swept over me.  Looking around I saw the white/pale-yellow blooms of the mock orange trees that grow right outside my kitchen door.  Their pretty flowers give off the most wonderful, intense aroma that stops you in your tracks.  It's heavenly, meaning if heaven smells as good as it should then it smells like this.  For more info on mock orange trees (or shrubs) beyond pretty and fragrant go to http://landscaping.about.com/od/shrubsbushes/p/mock_orange.htm.

While the mock orange tree produces no real orange fruit, many, many other trees, especially here in Southern California do.  Right now is the season for oranges of various varieties plus multiple other types of citrus.  Here's a picture that includes some oranges, grapefruits and tangerines from Melissa's, and you can learn more about what the best citrus varieties available are right now at http://www.melissas.com/Products/Categories/Citrus.aspx.  The Cara Cara oranges are especially juicy and sweet - almost heavenly.

For those of you who like recipes, and in case you missed my post last year about making candied citrus peel, dipped in white chocolate, and sprinkled with seeds, herbs, etc., it's not too late to check it out:  http://adventureswithnancyrose.blogspot.com/2011/03/very-peeling-candied-citrus.html.  Mr. Citrus will be happy to see you.

I Can Bake with a Little Help from my Friends

My Red Velvet Creations circa 2009

My lame, straight to cake-wrecks http://www.cakewrecks.com/attempt yesterday at baking red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's Day convinced me once and for all that I am not a baker. Not a scratch baker, that is, because I'm incapable of following a baking recipe exactly as it needs to be followed.  However, thanks to baking mixes and the talented teachers at Kake Kreations http://www.kakekreations.com/, (please see photo at right) I'm actually pretty good at putting together something delicious and beautiful. Thank you too Betty and Duncan.
 

A very important part of baking and decorating success are the tools and decorations that are available from Wilton http://www.wilton.com/, who have hundreds and hundreds of pans, molds, papers, cutters, embellishments, and more - something for everyone who bakes, from scratch or not.  Recently I found this vintage 1960's Wilton ideas book at a flea market, full of wonderful retro images, that I'm going to send to my friends Nancy and Gretchen at Wilton.  Maybe I'll see it when I make a pilgrimage to their headquarters outside of Chicago.

Not to show off, but here are a few more of my cake creations with the help from Kake Kreations and Wilton: 

1st Class Cake

Brush Embroidery Technique

Pretty Good, Huh?

And in the afterglow of Valentine's Day, here's a little hand-painted, decoupaged, and embellished heart-shaped box I made for a show at Zinnia's http://www.zinnia.biz/zinnia.biz/home.html in South Pasadena.  The show is on until the end of the month so do stop by if you have a chance.  P.S.  There's a pretty little pink glass heart necklace in the box too - very sweet I think.

It's All Good

Shop Goodwill First! http://www.goodwillsocal.org/shopping/

I love drinking tea all day long, and I love fresh ginger, so recently I had a peanut-butter-meets-chocolate ah ha moment.  No matter what flavor of tea I'm drinking, and I am partial to green teas especially Jasmine,  I add a chunk of fresh ginger and good tea becomes great tea.  Because I drink tea all day long, I picked up this great thermos pitcher at Goodwill for just a few dollars and it holds two big cups - one teapot of water makes 3 cups, so I get one right away with 2 more hot and ready waiting for me.  

Ginger is also a fantastic ingredient to cook with and my newest cooking/recipe plan is to see what's on hand,  maybe recreate a favorite recipe (a la egg foo young from my last post), or go through the bizillions of recipes I've cut out of magazines, or downloaded, or picked up somewhere and thought "I want to make this" and then make it. Today's recipe actually fits every criteria - it's another Chinese restaurant favorite,  I had an easy recipe that I downloaded 2 years ago, and of course I had fresh ginger.  http://www.melissas.com/Products/Products/Ginger-Root.aspx 

Did I mention I also happened to have a large bag of fresh green beans and another one of my favorite Chinese restaurant dishes is the Szechuan Green Beans?  The recipe I had called for Chinese long beans http://www.melissas.com/Products/Products/Chinese-Long-Bean.aspx but traditional green beans make a fine substitution.  You do have to stir-fry for quite a while but it's worth it.  Not only does it taste as good as the restaurant version, but I can say I actually made a recipe that I'd been saving.  What a good concept.

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/vegetablesrecipes/r/greenbean.htm

 Szechuan Green Beans
1 lb. fresh green beans or Chinese long beans
2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. ginger, diced
3 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp. chili paste
1 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1 tsp. brown sugar
sea salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable or peanut oil

1. Wash the beans, trim the ends, cut into 2-3" pieces.
2.  In a wok or large saute pan heat 1/2 the oil until medium hot then add the beans and sprinkle with sea salt.
3.  Stir fry the beans about 8-10 minutes until they soften and get slightly brown, then remove from the pan.
4.  Add the remaining oil to the pan, turn up to high heat, and add the ginger, garlic, and green onions.
5.  Stir fry a few seconds then add the chili paste and continue to stir a few seconds more.
6.  Wow, that smells good, doesn't it?
7.  Now add the beans back into the pan, plus the soy sauce and brown sugar, and toss to combine.
8.  Good, you're done!
9.  Delicious hot, but very tasty cold too, with or without chop sticks.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

January 23 marked the start of this year's Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon.  This celebration of family, friends, food, and good fortune will continue through February 6, giving us all plenty of time to enjoy our favorite Chinese foods and learn more about the rich culture of the Chinese people.  You might want to visit Chinese Master Chef Martin Yan's facebook page for insight and inspiration https://www.facebook.com/chefmartinyan?sk=wall.

Pekin House - Chicago, Illinois

As many of you know, there is a long-standing connection between the Chinese and the Jewish cultures, especially when it comes to a certain major non-Jewish, non-Chinese holiday, and I recall many wonderful family dinners at the Pekin House Restaurant on Devon Avenue in Chicago.  This is where I had my first taste of egg foo young, which remains to this day my favorite thing to order for eat-in or take-out.

For some reason I never imagined I could recreate this dish myself, which is pretty silly when you break it down and realize that egg foo young is really just a kind of omelet with Asian veggies.  Plus that yummy, thick, rich, sauce on top turns out to be super easy to make too.  So using a recipe from Food.com as a guide http://chinese.food.com/recipe/egg-foo-yung-24687, here's my easy egg foo young.  May you become prosperous.

Easy Egg Foo Young
5 large eggs, beaten                                       

1 cup fresh bean sprouts                                               
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1/2 cup shredded carrots                                                 

1/3 cup minced green onions

1/2 cup shredded Napa cabbage
2 tsp. light soy sauce
veg or peanut oil
sauce:
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
2 tsp. light brown sugar
2 tsp. black vinegar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. water

1. First make the sauce - in a small pan, heat the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, and water until simmering.  Toss in some of the chopped green onion if you'd like.
2. In a small bowl, blend the cornstarch and water, then add to the sauce and stir until thickened and bubbly.
3. In a bowl combine the eggs, veggies and 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce.
4. Heat about 2 teaspoons of oil in a saute pan then add about 1 ladle full of the egg/veg mixture, guiding it on the pan with a spatula so it remains in the shape of a large pancake.
5. Heat until egg is about 2/3 cooked through, then turn the omelet/pancake over and cook until browned on both sides.
6.  While you cook remaining cakes keep each finished one separate and not stacked to avoid sogginess.
7.  Give the sauce another brisk whisk.
8.  Serve up your egg foo young,
9. Confucious say accept praise with modesty if you can.

Note: If you compare the original recipe from Food.com with mine you'll see that I've made an addition (carrots) and an omission (water chestnuts) but the foo young was fine.  Use your own imagination, what's in your pantry, or get inspiration and information on Asian vegetables from Melissa's Produce Company: http://www.melissas.com/Products/Categories/Vegetables.aspx?subcategory=672879da-96fe-452b-b107-3e7c0849d362

Best Thing I Personally Ever Ate At Samosa House

Best Spinach Pakoras I Ever Ate

My favorite Indian restaurant happens to be vegetarian (yeah), has a grocery store attached (yipee), is super affordable (thank you), and has what I'm sure are the best spinach pakoras on the planet (hallelujah).  When you visit their website (http://samosahouse.net/Samosa_House/Home.html) or more better go there asap you'll find out that the Food Network actually filmed a segment there not too long ago and the best thing Aarti Sequeira (Aarti Party) ever ate is the Samosa House's namesake samosas.  So actually Samosa House has 2 best things someones ever eaten.  Are you going now?

My own Indian culinary creations are limited to a coconut curry tofu dish I make, and the last one featured fresh butternut squash, frozen (that's right) Italian green beans, Melissas's Red Fresno chiles, coconut milk, and some spices from friends Kaumudi Marathe' of  Un-Curry and from Patty Erd's The Spice House.  I used a bit of K's Bengali 5-Spice + More and quite a bit of Patty's Sweet Curry Powder which is "ideal for those who are new to the distinctive flavor of these Indian spices".  The 5-Spice Blend was whole spice so this went in the pan first for a light toasting, and the Sweet Curry Powder went in later for wonderful flavor and color.  Kaumudi had also recently given me some of her special Fresh Mango Mustard Seed Pickle and Spice Road Cashews, both of which perfectly garnished my coconut curry concoction.

The moral to this story is that if you want the best spinach pakoras on the planet visit Samosa House http://samosahouse.net/Samosa_House/Home.html.
If you want the best spices in the world visit The Spice House http://www.thespicehouse.com/.
To take an amazing cooking class or enjoy one of Kaumudi's fabulous pop-up dinners get in touch at http://www.un-curry.com/Un-Curry_Website/kaumudi.html
For the best fresh chiles, dried chiles, and every other produce item you'll ever need (until they discover something new) visit Melissa's Produce Company at http://www.melissas.com/

Russell Stover, Russell Stover, Can You Please Come Over?

Growing up in the Midwest, I ate many Fanny May and Dutch Mill chocolates.  After moving to Southern California I was introduced to See's Candies and their chocolates are delectable and affordable too.
Dutch Mill is no longer in business, Fanny May is now part of a very big company, and lucky for us See's is still going strong.

While I've enjoyed chocolates from many, many other companies, all price points, domestic and international , for some reason one company was not on my radar.  Thanks to my thoughtful friend May, who gave me a box of their assorted dark chocolates for Christmas, I'm now in love with Russell Stover - well not Russell himself, but the dark chocolate covered caramels, nuts, and chews that filled that gift box from May.

From the first bite of the first caramel  I swooned and saw my happy future with the rest of the box.  Since I took this picture I've eaten a few more and there are more to be eaten but I'm savoring them one (or two) at a time.  Seriously, this box of chocolate is a little bit of chewy, chocolate heaven.   Thanks again May for bringing Russell over.

Russell Stover:
http://www.russellstover.com/

Fanny May: http://www.fanniemay.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplay?c=aboutus&t=A&storeId=20052&catalogId=12302&langId=-1


See's: http://www.sees.com/index.cfm/about_us

Boxes on the Hillside

You don't have to make specific resolutions in order to resolve to do something or other.  In fact, if you keep your intentions on the hush-hush then no one but you will know that you've failed.  But no one but you will also know when you've succeeded, and what's the fun in that?

Horse-Ranchy Home Facsimile

So on Saturday, in front of my art & craft friends at Amy-E's comfortable horse-ranchy home, I blurted out an art/craft project that I planned to launch in the near future.  My a/c will be decorative boxes, the kind you want to keep for yourself, but that you also know someone would really like to get as a gift.  They'll be beautiful inside and out, in different sizes and shapes (while still remaining a box), and will call out to be filled with special treasures. 

I Love Breakfast!

With the encouragement of my a/c group to go forward and make boxes, I woke up Sunday morning full of both big ideas and a big appetite.  Isn't it funny how our appetites seem to be bigger on the weekends?  So I made myself a fresh spinach, green onion, and cheese omelet - a term that I use very loosely since I don't bother to try and put the fillings on one side and then flip the other side on top, etc., etc.  Along with the egg creation I had sliced Roma tomatoes with a dash of extra virgin Greek olive oil from Arianna Trading Company*  with a splash of vinegar, plus English muffins topped with homemade orange** marmalade. 

Treasure Box #1

Re-enforced, I sat down at one of my creativity tables and finished up box numero uno.   I hope you like it.  More coming soon. 





 Now if I can just get this song out of my head:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=SADPuUYF_4I&feature=endscreen



*http://ariannatradingcompany.com/Arianna_Trading_Company/Greek_Extra_Virgin_Olive_Oil_our_products.html,

**http://www.melissas.com/Products/Categories/Citrus.aspx